So at home we have a Comcast Cable Internet connection. Lately I have been getting redirected to a “Comcast Search Page”. Now you’re probably thinking “Well that because you mistyped a URL”. Actually it’s not. About 25% of the time that I do a search term on Google.com the Comcast Search page comes up. And on this page it does have search results but it also has tons and tons of ads on it BEFORE the acutal search results. Why would Comcast do this? Profit! Everytime you get that page the advertisers have to pay a fee for that page impression. But let’s face it the real reason they did this is to take advantage of the average computer user 
like your grandmother who has no idea what to click on and what not to. This is a very shady and low thing to do to your customers Comcast. I have personally removed Comcast’s DNS servers from my router (I usually do before this BS just because they suck so much) and I now use OpenDNS.org and Google.com for my DNS servers. If you want to know how to do this so that Comcast doesn’t make money off your back check out OpenDNS.org.
What is to stop them from redirecting the websites that they feel are unfit for their customers? When will there be some regulation on what ISP’s can do to the traffic that is going through their networks? This is crazy that I have to use a third party DNS provider so that I do not get bombarded with ads and scams for a service that I PAY FOR! What ever happened to net neutrality? I just hope this doesn’t fall upon deaf ears.
I am an IT Professional with many years of experience in everything from network design to video editing. This blog is an outlet for my technology thoughts and a central place for employers to get to know me.
Hi,
Completely agree with you on this, they are saying it’s a trial and people can opt out at any time. I didn’t even know I was opted in…LMAO! Just a bit sneaky of them.
Of course I changed the router as soon as I realised, however the normal Comcast DNS seem much slower than the trial ones….I wonder why?
68.87.72.130 and 68.87.77.130
I’m near to Chicago so they may be the same for you. I may switch to open DNS like you….Still, it doesn’t sound good.
I think the net neutrality thing is being debated right now, I hope common sense and freedom prevail. Otherwise it means whatever ISP you get, you’ll be tied to what they think you should see, however much you pay them.
Oh and one more thing about Comcast, they are bringing in a meter system so the 1% of people that may go over the 250 gb limit can tell when to ease off….
I’m thinking as they say 99% of people don’t get near that limit. Hmmm, so why bring the meter in at all?
Call me cynical (calll me whatever the hell you want), but I really think that they will introduce charges based on useage too. Arrrrgh!
Thanks for the comments Ray. I would definitely fall into that 1% range as I have 10 systems on the connection. I firmly believe that it is alright to charge for a higher SPEED internet pipe but it should be illegal for the internet service providers to tamper with what is inside said pipes.
But playing devils advocate I guess if they did prevent people from going to random websites then there would be less virus and spyware infections in the world. Let’s face it there would be a huge decline in revenue from places like Geek Squad.